TOM MOTLEY, who is based at South Cerney Golf Club, is rapidly building a reputation as the go-to golf coach even among the top local professionals.

He has enjoyed some encouraging results with Ross Langdon since they started working together over the winter, and other pupils like Ed Goodwin (Cirencester GC) and Ross Hibbitt (Cotswold Edge) are also doing well.

Motley has even convinced former Henbury-based Langdon to become attached to South Cerney as its playing pro.

“Ross is still only 25 and has ambitions to play on the Challenge Tour,” said Motley.

“He comes to practice and be coached at South Cerney. I think it will be good for members as they can identify with Ross and follow his results.

“It’s fair to say he was going backwards and had finished 34th and 40th in the last two years of the West Region Order of Merit.

“I never scout for players, but Ross was struggling with his technique and the mental side of the game last season and he would often ask me questions.

“Eventually he said he wanted to come to me for coaching and we hit it off from the start.

“I also brought in the golf mind coach Andy Morrison and between us we seem to be making a difference.

“Ross is already up to sixth place in this season’s West Region Order of Merit standings after good results at Oak Manor In Taunton and the Isle of Purbeck & Dudsbury near Bournemouth.

“At Oak Manor, Ross scored 71 and 70 in tough conditions to tie for eighth – his best OOM finish in recent years. Rounds of 70 and 71 left him tied for tenth in Bournemouth.”

Goodwin has dominated the Gloucestershire & Somerset PGA scene in the season just finished, winning the Order of Merit and the Matchplay Championship.

“I have worked with Ed ever since the days when I worked for Ed at Ciren,” said Tom.

“Ed does not need much work and he would only be an occasional pupil, but it’s great to see him getting such top results.

“Rod came to see me again recently and says he wants to come back some more.

“He tied for tenth with Ross in the Bournemouth Order of Merit tournament and tied for fifth with Ed at the Cotswold Hills Pro-Am recently.”

Motley is now devoting himself virtually full-time to coaching, while also juggling the demands of being a new dad to 12-week-old Jack.

A devotee of the FlightScope ball flight monitor technology, which he uses extensively in his lessons, Motley said: “I call myself a swing coach and I feel I am better at fixing swings than building them.”